About the Author

Zoran Zivkovic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, on October 5, 1948. He is a full professor at the Faculty of Philology, the University of Belgrade, teaching the creative writing. Zivkovic is one of the most translated contemporary Serbian writers. By the end of 2016 there were 86 foreign editions of his books of fiction, published in 23 countries, in 20 languages. Zivkovic has won several literary awards for his fiction. In 1994 his novel The Fourth Circle won the Milos Crnjanski award. In 2003, Zivkovic's mosaic novel The Library won a World Fantasy Award for Best Novella. In 2007 his novel The Bridge won the Isidora Sekulic award. In 2007 Zivkovic received the Stefan Mitrov Ljubisa award for his life achievement in literature. In 2014 and 2015 Zivkovic received three awards for his contribution to the literature of fantastika: Art-Anima, Stanislav Lem and The Golden Dragon. Youchan Ito was born 1968 in Aichi prefecture, Japan. She launched her career as a graphic designer in 1988, becoming a freelancer illustrator in 1991 and founding Togoru Co., Ltd. with her husband in 2000. In 2017 the company was reborn as Togoru Art Works. She works with a wide range of genres including cover art and design for science fiction, mysteries and horror titles, as well as illustrations for children's books. www.youchan.com Youchan Ito was born 1968 in Aichi prefecture, Japan. She launched her career as a graphic designer in 1988, becoming a freelancer illustrator in 1991 and founding Togoru Co., Ltd. with her husband in 2000. In 2017 the company was reborn as Togoru Art Works. She works with a wide range of genres including cover art and design for science fiction, mysteries and horror titles, as well as illustrations for children's books. www.youchan.com

Reviews

The fact that you are reading a story about a science fiction writer written by a science fiction writer is the kind of metafictional "mind-game" the writer of The Writer likes to play. The depiction of an "unreality"--or, in many cases, multiple "unrealities"--raises complex questions about existence that do not lead to clear answers.--David Soyka, The New York Review of Science FictionAs might be expected of a European academic trained in literary theory, Zivkovic mingles postmodern flourishes--self-reflexivity, deconstructionist ruminations--with the materials of speculative fiction. Overall, he perhaps most strongly resembles Italo Calvino in the latter's fantastic vein. Surrealism, incongruous introspection, teasing narrative geometries, and startling systems of hyperbolic wit shape and illuminate his yarns, lending them an Escheresque elegance... a surrealist tour de force. --Nick Gevers, Locus